1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to foldable furniture, and more particularly but not by limitation, to an improved table that opens and closes in an umbrella like fashion.
2. Brief Discussion of the Prior Art.
Campers, picnickers and the like often desire to take the comforts and conveniences of home with them on their outings. These conveniences often include furniture that can be readily set up and quickly transformed or folded into a small and compact structure which is easy to transport and store.
To this end, folding tables have long been known in the art and have been designed to fold in many different manners. For example, a common folding table design is one in which the legs of the table individually fold into the plane of the table top. While this design does in fact reduce the overall volume of the table, the table top may still be too large or awkwardly shaped to make handling and storage of the table convenient.
In order to reduce a table to an even more compact structure, and thus alleviate the problem mentioned above, a design that allows the table to open and close in an umbrella like fashion is employed. In general, this type of design permits the legs of the table to be folded up or retracted and the table top collapsed to a diameter that makes the table easy to carry or transport and convenient to store in a small space.
Several prior art umbrella like tables have been proposed. However, the prior art umbrella like tables have generally not met with much success because of design deficiencies which have resulted in overly complex structures that are uneconomical to manufacture and inconvenient to use. In particular, the table disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,661, issued to Mason et al., is difficult to set up and take down as a result of several design deficiencies, such as its leg assembly and the configurations of its central plate and leaf members. More specifically, the design of the leg assembly is such that it is unstable and awkward to manipulate, and the configurations of the leaf members and the central plate are such that the leaf members do not adequately mate with the central plate to enable the leaf members to open and close smoothly and efficiently. That is, the configurations of the central plate and the leaf members permit lateral movement of the leaf members within radial slots formed in the central plate, thus disrupting the radial alignment of the leaf members.
Another problem associated with the table of the Mason et al. patent is that the leaf members are not securely locked in place when in the open position. Thus, the leaf members are able to rotate past the horizontal plane of the table top in much the same way as when an umbrella is extended beyond its normal operating position by a strong gust of wind. Obviously, an umbrella that is easily blown open is not very useful; likewise, a table that does not provide a flat and stable surface is of little use.
Thus, the present invention relates to a foldable table which overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art tables. That is, the present invention is directed to an improved foldable table that is easy to set up, easy to store and easy to transport, while also being relatively inexpensive to manufacture.